Ex-cop, niece shot dead after P.7-M bank withdrawal

MANILA, Philippines - A retired policeman and his niece were gunned down by at least three unidentified robbers after they withdrew P700,000 from two banks in Meycauayan, Bulacan, Valenzuela City police said yesterday.

Valenzuela police chief Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor identified the victims as ex-policeman Jovencio Pagador, 53, chief executive officer of the Great Horizon Manpower Services in Barangay Punturin; and his niece, Haydee Paloma, 28, a resident of the same barangay.

Pagador sustained several bullet wounds in the left side of the head and body while Paloma was hit in the neck, upper body and right arm by bullets fired from a .45 caliber pistol, Northern Police District crime laboratory chief Superintendent Filemon Porciuncula said. Both died on the spot.

Crime scene investigators found nine shells and two deformed slugs from a .45 caliber pistol at the crime scene.

In a report submitted yesterday by SPO2 Armando Delima, the victims had just withdrawn money from two banks in Meycauayan and were on their way back to Punturin in their Mitsubishi Montero when two men on a motorcycle approached and shot at Pagador, who was driving.

The Montero slammed into a concrete wall. Witnesses said Paloma, who was wounded, got out of the vehicle but the robbers gunned her down a few feet from the car.

The gunmen then grabbed the bag containing the money and sped toward Barangay Langka.

Police sources said the robbers could have communicated with their cohorts through cell phone to keep track of the victims until they reached the ambush site.

Investigators said the motive for the killing was robbery. Pagador’s .45 Colt pistol, found on the car floor, was left untouched by the robbers.